Liam Delap scores his first Chelsea goal in the Club World Cup victory over Espérance

It must be challenging to play free-flowing football when the game appears to be taking place in an airless hotel room with no one knowing how to turn off the central heating.  Chelsea, despite the sweltering conditions in Philadelphia, kept their cool and defeated Espérance 3-0 to go to the Club World Cup's round of 16.

This was a successful night for Enzo Maresca, who had little issues despite relying on his second string to defeat the Tunisian champs.  Liam Delap scored his first goal for Chelsea, and while they finished second in Group D to Flamengo, there are advantages to finishing second. After all, a meeting with Bayern Munich on Saturday has been postponed, albeit more by chance than judgment, after Benfica took advantage of Vincent Kompany's terrible attempt at rotation to take first place in Group C with a stunning 1-0 victory against the German champions on Tuesday afternoon.

Of course, Chelsea should not take anything for granted when they travel to Charlotte to face Benfica, who are experienced Champions League challengers.  However, the outlook appears brighter than it did before last Friday's bruising 3-1 loss to Flamengo.  A humiliating early exit has been avoided, and Maresca will be relieved to have rested Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Pedro Neto, and Reece James against such limited opponents as Espérance. 

"I'm thinking game by game," Maresca explained.  "I'm not thinking about the final.  We are aware that Benfica is a top club with top management and players.  We are in the round of 16, and our goal is to get to the quarterfinals.

"We expected the procedure with Liam to be quite swift because he knows us, and we know him.  We know each other extremely well.  For him, the process goes quickly.  It is also because he is an excellent player."

Maresca's starting lineup evoked a distinct Conference League group stage vibe. 

He made eight changes, gave Filip Jorgensen a chance in goal, gave Christopher Nkunku his first start in attack since April 17th, and caused a social media meltdown by once again finding no place for Andrey Santos in midfield, even though it is pretty standard practice for a manager to ease in a young player who has only been with his new teammates for less than two weeks.

Maresca mentioned that there are tactical aspects for Santos to understand.  This was Chelsea's 60th game of a rigorous season, and one thing has become evident throughout Maresca's first year in charge: his system takes time to grasp. 

Chelsea did not initially execute the plan well.  Was it due to the hot wave, which made adequate training impossible?  It was still 35 degrees Celsius at Lincoln Financial Field when the game began, and Chelsea had to contend with severe humidity levels.

The opening ten minutes were sluggish.  Tosin Adarabioyo shot wide from a corner, but Espérance quickly found openings at the opposite end.  Gusto was caught out of position, but the defender raced back to deny Elias Mokwana, and there was further anxiety when Yan Sasse went behind Josh Acheampong on the opposite flank. 

Chelsea reacted by having Nkunku find Delap, who turned and shot at Bechir Ben Said from 20 yards.  They started to dominate and almost scored when Enzo Fernandez teamed with Gusto on the left.  Dewsbury-Hall could have done better with a free header.  Ben Said, who appeared increasingly suspicious, eventually got away with leaking a shot from Acheampong.  Enzo Fernandez volleyed wide following superb work from Noni Madueke, Chelsea's most energetic player in the first half. 

Nkunku, who has struggled with form and fitness, wandered into pockets of space.  If no bidder for the France international arises this summer, Maresca may be able to find another use for the striker.  Nkunku undoubtedly has his advantages, especially in the opposing box.  It's more that he continues to appear out of place in this setting.

Nonetheless, Chelsea pressed as halftime loomed.  Espérance wasn't up to much.  They crumbled as Acheampong raced forward during stoppage time and won a free kick on the right.  Fernandez crossed, and Tosin delivered a superb header. 

The pressure was relieved, and Chelsea pressed again before the break, doubling their lead when Delap swivelled to the left, barrelled into the area, and shot with his right foot.  Ben Said, strangely, did little more than stand fixed to his line, not attempt to save despite the ball flowing in pretty centrally like an outfield player reluctantly taking a turn in goal during a casual five-a-side game.

Chelsea dominated the second half.  Madueke and Nkunku shot barely wide; Tyrique George and Marc Guiu came in but were stopped by Ben Said.  Maresca was satisfied and pulled Delap, giving the striker a rest given that Nicolas Jackson will still be unavailable against Benfica following his red card against Flamengo. 

There was even a late runout for Santos, who appeared to make an immediate impact when his shot was handled and a penalty was awarded, only to have the judgment reversed after a VAR review.

It made no difference.  Flamengo will take on Bayern after drawing 1-1 with Los Angeles FC.  Chelsea advanced to the knockout stages easily, earning £7 million in the process; gloss added to the scoreline after Ben Said failed to deal with George's powerful long-range strike.